Investment Newsletter Insights

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Subscribers may have noticed that delivery of this e-letter has shifted from Monday to Tuesday.

We did this to better highlight new kid on the block Mike Ashbaugh, whose column, The Technical Indicator, appears free on CBS MarketWatch each and every Tuesday. Mike is an "up-and-comer" in the world of technical analysis and writes a daily subscription letter by the same name. Of course, we also have commentary from regular columnists Mark Hulbert and Thom Calandra, with Peter Brimelow taking a well-deserved vacation.

In The Guru's Corner, Charles Carlson of the DRIP Investor offers up some low volatility stocks with good dividends while the Motley Fool's Tom Gardner mines for "hidden gems" in the healthcare sector. And Fidelity Investor's James Lowell reports on a recent abdication at the nation's largest fund firm that should prompt shareholders of one mutual fund to sell.

And of course, we also have our weekly roundup of news in the investment letter industry, chock full of name changes, freebies and not so freebies and one newsletter editor that's gone Ivey League.

What's the hurry?

The shorts are in

After a three-month absence, the Short on Value newsletter returned last week under the new banner Overvalued Equities, now published by Westminster Securities Corp. Editor Will Lyons changed the name upon joining the equity research department at Westminster, a full service brokerage firm. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Referring to his investment style as "institutional short selling," Lyons focuses on overpriced stocks likely to suffer a pullback. The newsletter provides a monthly overview of what Lyons believes are the 40 most overvalued equities with market caps exceeding $100 million.

In his previous newsletter, Short on Value, Lyons maintained two model portfolios but discontinued them in April, due to a lack of interest on the part of his subscribers, he said. While the portfolios flourished during the three-year bear market, averaging a 16.4 percent annual gain through March 2003, vs. a 16.3 percent loss in the Wilshire 5000, the longer-term picture wasn't so rosy. Over the past 9 1/2 years, the newsletter lost about 17 percent annually, according to the Hulbert Financial Digest. -- M. Bobby Syed

Back to school

Investment newsletter editors are busy folks. Besides hosting seminars, writing books and making special appearances, more and more are finding their way into the classroom, teaching the next generation of investors.

For instance, The PAD Report's Daniel Alan Seiver is an economics professor at Miami University of Ohio and Nick Chase, editor of the Contrarian's View, is affiliated with Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., specializing in information technology.

Forecasts & Strategies' Mark Skousen is the latest editor to don the professor's cap. He starts as an adjunct at Columbia University's business school this coming January. "Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about joining one of the top Ivy League schools in the nation," Skousen wrote in a recent hotline. "I believe this position will only enhance my newsletter and our recommendations."

HFD has been tracking S&F since the beginning of 1994. The newsletter averaged returns of 4 percent annually, vs. a 9.4 percent yearly gain by the Wilshire 5000. -- Ruthanne Fritzinger

Free no more

This month, the free Upside supplement to the Dow Theory Forecasts investment newsletter split off to become its own subscription product. Long-term subscribers may remember the small- and mid-cap focused Upside as the Low Priced Stock Survey, which became a free insert when DTF purchased the publication in 2001.

No explanation was given for the move, though performance is usually the stuff that sells subscriptions. Since the HFD began tracking Low Priced Stock Survey/Upside in January 1999, it has easily outpaced the other DTF portfolios, gaining 12.5 percent annually over the period. The next closet portfolio only returned 1.3 percent over the same time frame. This compares to a 1.4 percent rise by the Russell 2000 and a 2.9 percent dip in the Wilshire 5000.

A one-year subscription fetches $240 while a two-year subscription is discounted to $414. -- John Kimble

Gilder freebie

The Technology Market Advisor has changed its name to The Whitebox Market Observer. The free supplement to the Gilder Technology Report will retain the same format and editors Richard Vigilante, former publisher/co-editor of GTR, and Andrew Redleaf founder of Whitebox Advisors, will continue its composition. Although advice has slowly shifted toward non-tech stocks, the pair said they plan to apply the Gilder technology paradigms to generate opportunities, "even in difficult times."

The free report, launched in July 2002, is not currently tracked by HFD though a listing of current recommendations could be followed as a portfolio. HFD has been tracking the performance of Gilder Technology Report itself, edited by George Gilder, since January 2000, however.

While Gilder Technology produced an annual decline of 41.3 percent over that period, compared to a 9.4 percent loss by the Wilshire 5000, over the last six months, the newsletter is up a whopping 43.6 percent vs. the Wilshire's rise of 12.9 percent. -- Ruthanne Fritzinger

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